Summary:
The city of Roper, North Carolina is served by a single school: Washington Early College High, a high school serving grades 9 through 12 within Washington County Schools. With 72 students, this early college high school serves a predominantly low-income population — nearly 96% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
Washington Early College High is a top performer within its district and across the state. It currently ranks #148 out of 662 North Carolina high schools (78th percentile, 4 stars), while Washington County Schools ranks #198 out of 246 districts (20th percentile, 1 star). Test performance reflects this gap: in 2025-26, 73.3% of students were proficient in Biology versus 25.9% districtwide, and 89.5% were proficient in Math III versus 44.4% districtwide. The school exceeded state proficiency rates in four of the five subject-year comparisons, and its graduation rate of 91.3% tops both the district (81.9%) and state (88.8%). Chronic absenteeism is just 5.5%, compared with 40.7% for the district and 24.2% statewide.
There are important caveats. The school's rank has been volatile — #102 in 2023-24, #264 in 2024-25, then #148 in 2025-26 — and with only 72 students, small changes can create large swings in percentages. The listed student-teacher ratio of 36:1 likely underestimates instructional support, since early college models often use college faculty. The school also serves a self-selected group of students, which may help explain its wide performance gap with the surrounding district. Still, the overall picture is strong: a high-poverty early college high school producing strong academic outcomes, low absenteeism, and graduation rates above both district and state averages.
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